Introduction
Harold Thomas Voizey is one of the village’s valiant war dead of 1914-18 and is commemorated on the memorial in the church. He was the eleventh man from the village to lose his life in the war.
Childhood
Harold was born on 23 February 1899 at Struckmead Farm, Barry Lane, Hardington, the second of six children born to Thomas Voizey and his wife, Amelia Annie (nee Elliott).[1] His father was a master saddler. His parents had moved from East Chinnock to Hardington two years earlier.[2]
When Harold was three years old, his younger sister, Flora Annie, died from broncho-pneumonia and heart failure at the age of two.
In about 1908, Harold’s father took on the tenancy of Cary’s Farm in the High Street.[3]
In June 1914, Harold’s older sister, Lily Amelia, died of heart failure while working at Isle Brewers.[4]
First World War
Harold probably enlisted in the army when he turned 18. He served as a private in the Machine Gun Corps, with the regimental number 132876. He was killed in action on 14 May 1918 at the age of 19.[5] His body lies in the Saint Venant-Robecq Road British Cemetery.[6]
His outstanding pay of £3 3s 11d was paid to his father on 11 December 1918, and a war gratuity of 3 10s on 8 December 1919.[7]
References
[1] Civil Registration Birth Index; RG13, piece 2297, folio 42, page 4.
[2] Voters’ Lists.
[3] Voters’ Lists.
[4] Western Chronicle, 3 July 1914, p.4.
[5] Western Chronicle, 3 July 1914, p.4.
[6] Find a Grave.
[7] Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects, 1901-1920.
